Kim Possible:  Ronald's Diner
by Desslock3
Summary: A rewrite of KP: Ron's Dinner.  Now with more Ron/Bon and less other stuff.
1. Chapter 1 Blind Date

Kim Possible: Ronald's Diner

Chapter 1: Blind Date

AN: After many reviews and suggests from you my loyal readers, I have decided to rewrite my fic KP: Ron's Dinner. This new version, renamed KP: Ronald's Diner, is more Ron/Bon centric and emphasis some themes while it eliminates the clone angle. It also cleans up some of the grammar and spelling mistakes in the original. This does not mean that I have abandoned Ron's Dinner, this is just a different take on the story for those who liked the story when it was more Ron/Bon focused.

Soundtrack:

Bon Jovi: Runaway

Bon Jovi: Living on a Prayor

Heart: Alone

Heart: Never

Heart: Nothin' at All

I.

Bonnie was tired, cold, dirty, and mostly hungry. She was weak from lack of food, and the few edible scraps that she had been able to dig up over the past few days were far less than she needed so that she could recover from her recent surgical procedure. Surgical procedure, ha, that was a joke, she thought. What she had endured was as close to being a genuine medical procedure as Smartymart clothing being shown off at Milan. For just a fleeting moment the thought of trying to go back home to her parents and sisters crossed her mind, but she quickly and soundly rejected that idea. She would rather stay out here on the streets than go home again. Not after what they, her so called family, had said and done to her.

Bonnie also had to admit that on top of her physical ailments, she was also lonely. Through out her life Bonnie had had few friends, a large entourage of followers yes, but they were not real friends. That wasn't to say that Bonnie never had any friends, but the number of real friends, people she could count on to help her out, she could count on one hand and have fingers left over. Usually Bonnie would take care of her loneliness by seeking companionship, but that never really filled the void, not like her true friends, Tara and Molly used to do. With a deep sigh Bonnie surprised those feelings so she could get on with taking care of her more immediate needs, namely getting a decent meal for the night, and she knew a good place to do that.

After walking for a while, having long ago lost any sense of how much time had actually gone by, Bonnie found herself standing in front of a small local diner. She had heard about the place before, and knew that it had a rep for having good food at a decent price and it catered towards the teenage crowd. But most importantly the owner was known as a real nice guy. She really didn't want to go to him for help but she had pretty much run out of options. Besides with a little luck he wouldn't even remember her, or recognize her in her current state.

II.

Ronald let out a tired sigh as he flicked off the lights to the small building which housed the diner that constituted his lively hood. It had been another long hard week working at the diner. But then again they were all long hard weeks, and they were catching up to him. With his Naco royalties rapidly dwindling and the bills for the diner starting to pile up it seemed like no matter what he did he just couldn't seem to make ends meet. Plus Ronald couldn't remember the last time that he had taken a day off, be it for the weekend or otherwise. Quite frankly all the long hard weeks were really beginning to catch up to him, badly. Even in the poor light outside of the diner, Ronald could see the dark circles under his eyes in his reflection from the window. _Well in a few more days all of that won't matter much_, he thought to himself, _since I'll be closing down the diner for the last time._ Locking the door for the night, Ronald turned around and was about to head for home when he was surprised to see that some one had walked up behind him. She; or at least Ronald assumed it was a woman, was dirty looking and seemed to have a bit of an offending odor about her. She was also a bit thin looking, as though it had been weeks since she had had enough to eat. However, it was when she spoke, that was when Ronald was the most surprised.

"Excuse me sir, could you spare something to eat? I don't need much, just any leftovers you were going to throw out."

Ronald looked at the woman for a moment as he contemplated what to do. The woman looked familiar and Ronald was pretty sure he had seen her before. He knew there were a few homeless people that lived around the neighborhood of his diner, so he had probably seen her then. It was no secret among the homeless community among Lowerton that Ronald's diner was a good place to get some food. Unlike most people who simply tossed any food they wished to dispose of in to a trash can, Ronald would gather his food and place it neatly in to a box or some other sort of container and place it just out side the door of the back of his diner. This simply act allowed many a homeless person the ability to get a half way decent meal with out the humiliation of having to dig through a trash can. Ronald figured that the woman was probably someone who had picked up the left over food he had set out one night and that was why she looked familiar.

Having seemingly solved that mystery, Ronald cast another glance at the woman. She looked as though she was very much in need of both good meal, and a bath. Her shoulder length hair appeared matted and dirty and the way it hung limply next to her face seemed to emphasis the rather pronounced check bones that her face showed off. Her arms, the only part of her body what was exposed besides her face, also looked to be a bit on the thin side. As if it was attempting to form a study in symmetry, the woman's clothes looked to be about as equally dirty as her hair, and as thread thin as her arms. With out a doubt she could use a hot meal and a hot shower. The former Ronald could do something about if not the latter. Besides which, the Torah said that charity began at home, and Ronald did sort of consider his diner to a sort of home for him.

"Sure, I can give you a decent meal." Ronald said with a soft smile.

"Thank you. I promise I won't bother you long, I just need something to eat for tonight."

"Hey no problem. But I warn you that I don't believe in letting any one leave until they are satisfied with their meal," Ronald said as he slid his key back in to the lock and gave it a twist. As the mechanism engaged he wasn't sure which was louder, the click of the lock as it slid open or the sound of things clicking in his mind. Removing the key from the lock he slowly turned around to take a closer look at the young beggar before him. Never in a hundred years would he have thought to see her here and in this state. Still, just to make sure, he asked the question that was on his mind. "Bonnie? Is that you Bonnie?"

Bonnie hesitated for a moment as she considered how to answer. Finally she opted to go with the truth. "Yes, it's me, Bonnie." She answered dejectedly. So much for a little bit of luck she thought. "I'm sorry, I should go."

As Bonnie turned to leave she felt a hand gently grab her to stop her from leaving. "Don't leave." Ronald said; surprise by how thin her arm actually felt in his hand, "You look like you could really use a good meal."

Bonnie didn't have the heart to stay nor the strength to pull away as she realized that she was, not for the first time, in an unattainable position. So instead Bonnie did the one thing she was good at, she put up a good front to try to protect her self.

"Why? So you can hold this over me? That the "Queen Bee" Bonnie Rockwaller had to come begging for a hand out? Just so you can get back at me for how I treated you in the past." Bonnie accused as she fought back tears. Over the past few years she had lost a lot of things, but her pride had not been one of them.

"No Bonnie, I'm not going to hold that over you or try to get back at you." Ronald said as he slowly shook his head. "I don't see "Queen Bee" Bonnie from high school, I just see another human being who's down on her luck and looks like she really needs a decent meal."

Bonnie stood there for a moment as her pride conflicted with her need for food and warmth. At first she wasn't going to accept his offer, but a gentle "Please" coming from Ronald's mouth finally convinced her to accept the offer and to follow Ronald in to the diner. "Thank you Ron."

"Think nothing of it, and please I'd rather go by Ronald."

As Bonnie followed Ronald in to the small diner where he worked, she got her first real look at the place. It was small, maybe forty feet across and while she couldn't see all the way to the back it couldn't have been more than one hundred feet long. About half of the building appeared to be dinning area consisting of four booths and three tables, it could probably sit about two dozen people max. The walls were covered in an eclectic collection of items that ranged from street signs to pictures to clothing and even a stuffed moose head. At best one could call it an odd art collection, at worst one could go so far as to call it all junk. Finishing up her visual tour of the place Bonnie became aware of Ronald pulling out a chair from one of the small wooden tables and offering it to her.

"Here why don't you take a seat while I go and heat up some food for us."

"Thank you." Bonnie said as she accepted the seat. At least Ron still knew his place in the food chain and had offered her a seat. But she also had to admit that it was the nicest thing that any one had done for her in a quite a while. While Ronald was in what passed for a kitchen of his small diner he continued to try to make conversation with Bonnie.

"Hope you don't mind having a dining partner tonight, I haven't had dinner yet myself."

"Fine, what ever." Bonnie said unenthusiastically. While she was happy to be receiving a hot meal and was grateful to Ron for giving her one, she wasn't all that excited about having to eat with him. Bonnie's thoughts were soon interrupted by the sound of a pair of glasses being placed on to the table.

"Figured you might want something to drink while the food cooks," Ronald explained as he placed a glass of water and a glass of ice tea in front of his guest.

"Is that unsweet tea? I don't like to drink sweet tea."

Ronald sighed in annoyance before answering, "Bonnie, I wouldn't worry about whether or not there's sugar in the tea, it's not going to affect your figure, and to be honest you could probably use the extra calories." As much as he used to appreciate the fact that Kim and Tara and many of the other former cheerleaders he knew from high school worked hard at maintaining their figures, there were times when their efforts almost seemed obsessive compulsive to him.

Bonnie stared at Ron for a moment in disbelief before explaining, "No, it's not that. I'm not worried about getting fat, I just don't like the way sweet tea tastes."

"Oh. He he, sorry about that Bonnie," Ronald said sheepishly. "It's just that I some times worried about you cheerleaders back in high school. Some of you were as thin as rails and still insisted on counting every calorie."

"I was never anorexic," Bonnie said defensively

"Didn't say you were"

"But you implied it."

"Ok sorry if I did. You're not anorexic." Ronald apologized.

"And don't you forget it." Bonnie said before softening her tone, "But thanks for caring Ron."

"Hey no big, and please I really rather be called Ronald."

"That's the second time you've told me that. Do you mind if I ask why?" Bonnie asked towards Ronald's back as he reentered the kitchen.

"Yes, I do mind. I'd just rather not talk about it. Unless you want to talk about how you wound up begging on the streets." Ronald replied some what snidely.

Bonnie simply shook her head no.

The lull in the conversation that followed lasted until Ronald brought dinner out. As she waited for her food, Bonnie again wondered why the blond haired man in the kitchen had insisted that she call him Ronald. Had he had a falling out with Kim? If that was the case then it was the perfect payback for both little miss perfect and Ron since she had been forced to be seen with him as the senior homecoming king and queen. However, as the smell of cooking food began to drift in to the dinner room from the kitchen, Bonnie's stomach loudly put an end to her train of thought as it announced it's opinion on the matter.

III.

Later that evening as Ronald watched Bonnie finish off her third helping of mashed potatoes and gravy, he finally asked her the question that had been on his mind for the past forty or so minutes. "Bonnie, do you have any where to go, I mean like a friends house, or shelter or somewhere you can stay the night?" Ronald asked.

Bonnie simply shook her head no as she finished chewing the last of her food. In the past she would never have eaten three helpings of food in one sitting. Or yet alone let someone or some guy see her do that, but she was hungry, no starving, and she didn't care. Plus Ronald had insisted that she start with small portions so as not to make herself sick from eating too much to fast. As the last bit of food disappeared from her plate Bonnie's mind suddenly raised a large red flag to what Ronald had just said, something that the tasty hot food and his generosity had almost made her over look, something that she had learned as a survival skill over the past couple of years.

"Oh no you don't!" Bonnie suddenly shouted.

"Don't do what?" Ronald asked in confusion.

"I know what you're doing. You think because you helped me out that I owe you now. Next you're going to offer that I come back to your place and spend the night. Well forget it." Bonnie said as she stood up and glared harshly at Ronald.

Ronald sat there in disbelief at what Bonnie had thought he was trying to do. Yes he was going to suggest that she come back to his place, but that was only so that she would have a chance to get cleaned up. "Bonnie, I wouldn't do that to you." Ronald protested. "Yes I was going to suggest that maybe you could come back to my place to get a hot shower and get cleaned up." Then returning Bonnie's glare, Ronald continued. "You don't have to accept my offer, and maybe I should retract it at this point, but I want you to think about something. In all the years that you've known me, have you ever known me to be a cad, or anything less than a gentleman?" Ronald then stood, picked up the empty plates on the table and making his way to the kitchen added over his shoulder, "You can finish eating before you answer that."

IV.

"This is the living room and kitchen, the bathroom is in the bedroom," Ronald explained as he gave the nickel tour of his one bedroom apartment to Bonnie, "And both the bedroom and bathroom door lock from the inside."

"Thank you." Bonnie said softly as she reflected on her earlier mistrust of the man. Yes she had always thought of him as being a loser all through high school, but he had always been a kind and good person. Obviously those things hadn't changed over the years.

"Here, you'll need this too."

Bonnie blinked in confusion as she looked at the bathrobe and two towels which were being handed to her. "What's this for?"

"I figured you would want an extra towel for your hair, Kim always used to want one. As for the bathrobe, I don't know how long you plan on being in the shower, but I was going to wash your clothes for you and I doubt they will be done in the washer and dryer before you're done in there. Call it hunch, but I doubt that you want to run around here naked while waiting for your clothes," Ronald explained as he added a disarming lop sided grin at the end.

For not the first time that night, Bonnie had lost count of how many exactly, she had to consider the fact that maybe, just maybe, she had been wrong about Ron and that she hadn't treated him unfairly in high school. "Thanks for the thought. But please don't try to steal my panties, they're the only pair I have right now." As Ronald watched the small smile cross Bonnie's face as she made her joke, part of him wondered just how much of her statement was meant in jest.

Taking the offered towel and bathrobe, Bonnie stepped in to the bedroom, locked the door behind her, and began to shed her dirty clothes. As Bonnie was stripping her clothing off she glanced around the room where Ronald slept. The bed appeared unmade and she figured that habit was probably a hold over from his high school days too. There was a small clothes hamper in one corner which looked like it had been stuffed to beyond capacity, judging by the shirt that was hanging out of it. Again probably another habit from his teenage days. Her gaze then turned to the dresser cabinet that sat opposite the foot of his bed. The surface was covered in what looked like mail, a newspaper, a stick of deodorant, and other assorted junk. But on one side of the dresser, the only spot that was relatively clean and uncluttered, sat a framed picture, a picture of Kim Possible. Seeing her former high school rival for the first time in a long time, Bonnie idly wondered what she was doing and why she and Ron were not together. Bonnie wanted to ask Ron about he and Kim but decided to save that for later. She didn't want to appear too noisy and loose her chance at a nice hot shower.

Unlocking the bedroom Bonnie quickly entered the bathroom and holding the door open just a crack, she called out for Ron to retrieve her clothes before she shut and locked the bathroom door. Yes Ronald was a nice guy, but she wasn't about to start trusting him any more than she trusted any man when she was in this vulnerable of a position. Turning the water faucets, soon hot water was pouring from the spout and the feel of the rising steam was like a siren's song to Bonnie as she stepped in to the shower. The hot water felt heavenly as it poured over Bonnie's hair and down her skin. It felt so good that she didn't even care that the soap and shampoo she ended up using were some generic guy smelling types, probably purchased at Smarty Mart, and not the usual fruity herbal scented girlie types that she used to use in the past. But then again it had been so long that she couldn't remember the last time that she had a chance to use a girlie shampoo. Back when her life allowed her the luxury of choosing between brands of shampoo as opposed to choosing between food or shelter for the night. Finishing her shower Bonnie stepped out of the tub and after quickly draying off before wrapping a towel around her body and one around her hair she put on the bathrobe and made her way to the living room.

"Feel better now?"

Bonnie nodded her head as she sat down on to the couch. "Yes, much better."

"I thought you would. Your clothes should be about done in the washer, I'll go and put them in the dryer in a few minutes."

"Thank you."

"No problem." Ronald said nonchalantly.

"No, but you made me your problem tonight." Bonnie answered soberly. "I won't pretend that I didn't treat you badly in high school. In fact you have no reason that you should be helping me now, other than your doing it out of the kindness of your heart."

"Well you know me Bonnie, I'm just a nice guy."

"I know, and tonight you've shown me more kindness than I've seen in a long time. But I won't impose on you for much longer tonight."

"Huh?"

"If you don't mind I'll just wait until my clothes are dry and then I'll be on my way and out of your hair."

"You're not in my hair." Ronald protested.

"Look Ron, I do appreciate what you've done for me tonight, but I don't want to stay here ok."

Seeing the confused look on Ronald's face Bonnie explained further. "I just wouldn't feel comfortable with it ok. You're a guy, I'm a girl…"

"I wouldn't take advantage of you." Ronald said incensed at just what Bonnie was implying.

"I wouldn't take advantage of a good looking girl like you. Ha, I've heard that one before." Bonnie retorted. "Or I'll still call you after we sleep together."

"Fine, think what you want Ms. Queenbee."

"Don't call me that!" Bonnie shouted.

"Why? Can't take a little name calling? You were pretty good at dishing it out in high school."

"I just don't like to be called queen bee ok." Bonnie said sounding a little deflated.

Sensing Bonnie's change of attitude, Ronald like wise amped down a bit. "Sorry. I promise not to call you queen bee if you promise to call me Ronald. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Good. But Bonnie, you really aren't in my hair." Ronald said as he stood up. "Now if you'll excuse me madam I need to put your clothes in the dryer."

After Ronald had left Bonnie began to look around the rest of the apartment. Most of what Ronald had told her during the nickel tour had gone in to one ear and out the other. But now that she was clean and had nothing to do as she waited for her clothes to finish washing, Bonnie decided to take a look around. This part of Ronald's apartment was actually fairly clean compared to the bedroom, which meant that Ronald wasn't a slob, but rather just lazy about what rooms he spent the effort to clean up. On the walls hung a few pictures, one contained a thin, tall woman standing next to a shorter more round looking man with blondish hair. Held in their arms between the two was a small, Asian looking, toddler. It didn't take a genealogist to figure out the adults were Ronald's parents, but the toddler Bonnie couldn't account for. On another wall across from the first, was another picture with two people in it. The person on the left was Ronald with his arm around the slim waist of a female read head know as Kim Possible. For the second time that night Bonnie wondered what was going on between the two of them. It was obvious that Ronald's apartment was very much a bachelor pad, so the two certainly weren't living together. Did that mean they were still dating? As Bonnie pondered these questions she leaned back against the couch she was seated in and closed her eyes for a moment.

Two minutes later Ronald returned from the laundry room. Opening the door to his apartment he found Bonnie, still sitting up, with her eyes closed and fast asleep on his couch, fast asleep. "Figured she would spend the night" Ronald chuckled to himself as he carefully lowered Bonnie's head and lifted her legs up on to the couch before retrieving blanket and a pillow from the linen closet. Gently draping a blanket over Bonnie's body Ronald moved to lift her head in order to place a pillow underneath.

Just as Ronald was placing the pillow underneath her head Bonnie, who had been awakened by the moving her of her body, opened her eyes to see Ronald not more than a few inches away and had his hands on her head. Bonnie's fight or flight response quickly kicked in as she let out a scream and pushed Ronald away from her. She then quickly retreated as far away as she could from Ronald but found herself trapped by the corner of the couch.

"Stay away from me!"

"Bonnie, it's ok, it's me Ronald. I'm not going to hurt you." Ronald said in a soft soothing voice as he held his hands up in an unthreatening manner.

Bonnie sat there for a moment as her mind digested what was in front of her. "Ronald."

"Yes Bonnie, it's me Ronald."

Bonnie seemed to begin to relax a bit.

"Are you ok?" Ronald asked worriedly.

"I'm fine. Just leave me alone."

"You sure you're ok? Because you don't look ok, you look frightened to me."

"I said I'm fine. I just want my clothes so I can leave." Bonnie demanded.

"Bonnie, if you do leave after getting your clothes, where do you intend to sleep?"

Bonnie simply shot Ronald a dirty look as if to say it was none of his business.

"Look I'm not asking to be nosy, but you look exhausted, like you haven't had a good night's sleep in a while. Why don't you stay here and get a good night's sleep tonight?"

"See, I knew you were going to bring that up!" Bonnie accused. "Next you'll be offering that I sleep in your bed."

"No I was going to offer you the couch. It must be comfy enough since you already feel asleep on it."

Bonnie sat there for a moment and considered his offer before answering, "Sorry Ronald, but I just don't trust you, so I would rather not sleep here."

"Oh, how about you sleep in my bed then?"

"See I knew it. You mean are all pigs." Bonnie retorted.

Ronald let out a sigh, "Ok bad choice of words. How about you sleep in my bed and I will sleep out here on the couch?"

Bonnie opened her mouth to say no but then a thought occurred to her. Ronald's bed room locked from the inside. That meant that he couldn't get in. That meant that she could sleep soundly, and safely. Bonnie was about to give her answer when a large yawn escaped from her mouth.

"I'll take that as a yes." Ronald said with his usually lop sided grin.

"Ok, I'll accept your offer. But I want you to stand over in that corner while I walk there." Bonnie said as she pointed to the far end of the room.

"Bonnie, do you really not trust me that much? Was it something I did to you in high school?" Ronald asked as he moved to the far end of the room.

"It's not you Ronald, I just don't trust anyone." Bonnie said as she walked in to the bedroom and proceeded to lock the door.

Ronald stared at the door for several seconds before he uttered, "Good night Bonnie. I hope someday you will trust me."


	2. Chapter 2 Table Talk

Kim Possible: Ronald's Diner

Chapter 2: Table Talk

AN: I must admit that I am surprised at the amount of positive feedback I am receiving about my reboot of Ron's Dinner, and that was after just one chapter. I must be doing something right. As you read this chapter I'm sure you will start to pick up on changes to the story. Part of that is simply from cleaning up the grammar and spelling, but part of it is because the plot has changed a bit and there are certain aspects of the story I wanted to emphasis.

I.

Bonnie's hands slowly slid across the bed as she enjoyed the feeling of sheets against her flesh. There was nothing like a good night's sleep in a warm bed the brunette thought to herself. Then suddenly Bonnie awoke with a start, sheets? Warm bed? How did she get these things? Soon the rest of the previous night began to come back to her. She had gone to Ronald's diner to beg for some food and unluckily he had recognized her. Whether out of pity, or to hold something over her, Ronald had not only given her a meal but had let her come back to his place to shower and wash her cloths. But how had she gotten in his bed? As a number of things raced through Bonnie's mind she quickly examined herself and found no evidence of being violated or molested. A lack of evidence didn't prove anything, and a knock out drug slipped in to her drink would account for her not being able to recall if anything had happened.

Climbing out of bed Bonnie began to looking for her clothing, with a little luck if Ron was still asleep and she could be dressed and out the door before he even knew she had left. However, when she was unable to find any of it Bonnie began to become worried. Had Ronald taken advantage of her? Had he hidden her clothes to make it that much harder for her to leave? But if that was the case then why not leaver her naked instead of with a bathrobe on? _Stop that Bonnie!_ She told herself, _you're going to work yourself in to a panic thinking about that kind of stuff_.

After taking several deep, calming breaths, Bonnie began to think about things in a more rational manner. She did have to admit although she didn't like the way the situation looked right now, that Ronald was pretty unlikely, at least compared to most of the men Bonnie knew, to take advantage of her. But that didn't mean she completely trusted Ronald either. It wasn't anything personal against Ronald, but Bonnie had learned not to trust a lot of men in her life.

Making sure that her bathrobe was completely cinched up and covered most of her body; Bonnie unlocked the bedroom door. A locked door was a good sign since it meant that Bonnie, who was the only one in the room, had locked it last night. Bonnie then sat these thoughts aside to focus on her current task as she slowly opened the bedroom door to peer in to the living room. As the door opened her nose was quickly assaulted by the smell of something good, the smell of food that was cooked instead of being either raw or burnt. She also realized that no one was lying on a couch. She wondered if maybe Ron or rather Ronald as he seemed to prefer to be called, had gone to the diner and left her here alone. If so then she could try to find her clothes, or if need by take some of his, and leave. As Bonnie opened the door wider she was caught by surprise by the sound of a familiar voice.

"Good morning Bonnie, did you sleep well?"

Looking at the source of the voice, Bonnie realized that Ronald was not only still there but he appeared to be making breakfast. Bonnie had hoped that Ronald would not be home, that would have made things less awkward, but since he was here she might as well make the most of it.

"How did I end up in your bed and where are my clothes?" Bonnie asked sternly.

"I know you didn't want to stay here," Ronald said as he slid an omelet on to a plate, "But you were so tired that you fell asleep on the couch the minute you sat down on it. I figured that if you were that tired then you really needed your rest. I tried to make you comfortable with a blanket and pillow. I guess I must have startled you while I was placing the pillow under your head because you freaked out and began to scream at me to keep away."

Bonnie was only half listening to the explanation as she hungrily eyed the cheesy looking omelet, bacon, toast, and juice that Ronald had prepared. It looked as though he was going to have a very good breakfast.

"I then offered to let you sleep in my bed, since my bedroom locks from the inside, and I would sleep on the couch." Ronald continued to explain as he exited the kitchen carrying a tray with two plates each filled with an identical looking breakfast. Once Ronald had stepped in to the living room he took a seat on the couch and placed both breakfasts on his worn looking coffee table. After placing breakfast on the coffee table, Ronald then returned the tray to the kitchen before speaking again.

"Your breakfast is getting cold, go ahead and eat."

Bonnie's mouth was watering and her stomach made a audible rumble but she suppressed her urge to eat as she repeated her earlier question, "Where are my clothes?"

"They're in the dryer."

"You said they were in the dryer last night. How can they still be there unless you didn't go get them? I bet you did that on purpose didn't you." Bonnie accused.

"No I didn't do that on purpose. The dryer I put them in last night malfunctioned because it didn't dry them so I had to put them in a different dryer this morning."

"I don't believe you."

"Damn it Bonnie, your starting to sound just like Kim!" Ronald suddenly snapped.

Bonnie was surprised Ronald's sudden outburst.

Ronald also seemed slightly surprised by his actions as he looked away from Bonnie. "I'm sorry Bonnie, I didn't mean to yell at you like that. You don't deserve that." Then looking at Bonnie again, "Why don't you sit down and eat. I'll go get your clothes out of the dryer." With out another word Ronald walked past Bonnie and out the door.

Bonnie could only stare at the sight of the retreating Ronald as she comprehended what she had just seen. Apparently Kim and Ron weren't on the best of terms. But it also reminded Bonnie of how easy it was for her to fall back in to old habits, such as being snippy with Ronald, who had not only given her a meal and a place to sleep last night, but had made her breakfast as well. Letting out a sigh Bonnie sat down on the couch and began to eat her breakfast as she thought about how to repay Ronald for his kindness.

About half way though Bonnie eating her breakfast Ronald came back with a small pile of cloths in his arms and placed them next to Bonnie. "Here are you clothes."

"Thank you. I'm sorry I was snippy earlier…"

"Don't worry about it." Ronald said cutting her off, "Let's just enjoy our breakfast."

Several minutes later after finishing the last of her meal, Bonnie closed her eyes as she sedately leaned back against the couch.

"Thank you Ron, err I mean Ronald. That was delicious." She said with none of the usual sarcasm or I'm better than you attitude that everyone associated with voice. The result was, at least as far as Ronald was concerned, a rather pleasing sound.

"Hey it was no big deal. I'm just glad that you look better than you did yesterday, even with your bed head."

Bonnie's eyes flew open as she bolted upright and gasped in horror as in her mind's eye she imagined a picture of her hair being all tangled, wild, and unkempt looking on a picture of her in her most stylish out fit that she would wear to the mall. But as the rational side of her mind caught up with her thoughts, the picture of her in the stylish out fit was replaced by what she looked like not twenty four hours ago. And now here she was, in a warm place, with a roof over her head, cleaner than she had been in weeks, and with a full belly, and she was still worried about little things like how she looked.

As the giggles that began to escape from her lips soon became a full felt laughter, Ronald began to wonder about her mental stability. Finally getting over her bout of giggles, the first one Bonnie had had in several months, she looked at Ronald and mentioned what was on her mind.

"Thank you for giving me a place to stay last night, and I know that you don't really expect any kind of repayment but I would like to try to repay you somehow."

"You really don't have to repay me, but if you do we can probably figure out something." Ronald answered.

"Fair enough, but that's a lot easier to do if I'm dressed, so if you don't mind I'm going to go and get dressed." Bonnie said as she quickly gathered up her clothes and headed for the bedroom.

As his roommate from the previous night shut and locked the door to the bedroom Ronald began to wonder who she might like working in at his diner.

II.

After getting dressed and taming her "bed head" hair, Bonnie finally exited Ronald's bed room and announced with a touch of her old Queen Bee flare, "Now that I'm presentable to the world again lets get this day started."

"I didn't think you were that un-presentable to start with." Ronald grinned.

"And don't you forget it," Bonnie said, "now lets talk about payment."

"Payment?"

"Yes payment. You know what I owe you for last night."

"I told you didn't have to. But a thank you would be nice."

"Thank you. Now what else do I have to do? You mentioned we could probably figure something out. How about me helping you at your diner? I could wash dishes for you today."

"Bonnie, what makes you think that you _have_ to wash dishes in order to repay me?"

Bonnie rolled her eyes as if she was talking to a child, "Because that's the way it works. A guy gives a girl dinner and a place to stay for the night and she repays him. And judging by the looks of your place here you're not exactly "Ron millionaire" are you."

"No I'm not Ron millionaire," Ronald conceded, "But since you mention it, maybe I could us a little repayment from you."

"That's what I figured, all guys are the same." Bonnie said in disgust.

"Hey you haven't heard me out yet."

"No, but let me guess, it involves me in various states of being undressed."

"What? No way Bonnie, I wouldn't demand any kind of repayment like that." Ronald replied in surprise.

"Then I guess it's back to washing dishes as I don't have any money on me."

Ronald sighed in frustration before answering. "Yes you can help me at the diner, but it doesn't include washing dishes."

"Then what?" Bonnie asked like wise frustrated.

"Come to the diner with me and I'll show you."

III.

The car ride to the diner had been quite as the two were wrapped up in their own thoughts after the morning's disagreement. After three songs and one commercial break on the radio, Ronald's used Pontiac came to a stop behind his diner.

"Are you sure about this Bonnie? You don't have to do this you know." Ronald said as he opened the car door.

"Yes I'm sure. I know you don't expect any repayment from me, but I would feel better if you did let me help you around the diner today. I'll do what ever you need me to. I'll wash dishes, I'll sweep the floor, whatever." Bonnie answered as she followed suit.

"Well I said you didn't have to do those things and you don't. But there is something else I would like to know, are you any good at math and accounting? Because I could use some help with that." Ronald grinned kind of sheepishly.

"Sure, I got an A in economics in high school. Besides, as long as you have a calculator then it can't be that hard can it?"

Two minutes later at the back of the diner, Ronald showed Bonnie the broom closet which served as his office. Bonnie could only stand there in a state of shock as she looked at the state of things on Ronald's desk, the term clutter would be far too generous to describe the scene before her. As near as she could tell the paper work on his desk and merged in to a single pile that not only stood almost three feet high, but also hung off the sides of the desk by a good six inches to either side. "Ronald Stoppable, you call this an office? It's an insult to the very concept of organization."

Ronald was struggling for an answer when he heard the bell at his front door chime. Saved by the bell he thought. "Oh look at that, the first customer of the day. Guess I need to go take care of them, I'll leave you here to handle things." He said as he began to retreat out of the office.

IV.

"Hi Bonnie, thought you might like some lunch."

Looking up from the still rather sizable pile of paperwork in front of her Bonnie saw Ronald standing in the door way holding a plate with a sandwich on it.

"Is it lunch time already?"

"Not quite, its only 11 o'clock, but I thought I would make you something before the lunch time rush hits."

"Wow, I didn't realize it was that time already." Bonnie said as she stood and stretched. "But then again taming this mountain of paperwork may well take the rest of the week."

"Hmm, if I didn't know any better I would say that you were trying to find a way to keep your self employed. Either that or your looking for an excuse to hang out with me some more."

"Don't flatter yourself." Bonnie retorted as she accepted the sandwich. "Honestly I don't know how you manage to run your own business? You have overdue and past due bills, bills that have been more than paid in full, outstanding invoices for items that weren't delivered, and that's all from me just putting things in to like piles. No wonder you and Kim aren't together, no fore thought or organization on your part."

"Now that's the old Bonnie I remember, always a snide remark." Ronald answered sarcastically. "But it shows what you know. Kim and I didn't break up over something so trivial as just my lack of organization."

"Then why did you two break up?"

"None of your business, that's between me and Kim." Ronald said as he turned his back on Bonnie and walked back towards his kitchen.

Watching as the annoyed man walked out of the office, Bonnie turned back towards her desk and caught a glimpse of a picture hanging on a wall that showed Ron and Kim together. Both of them were smiling and they looked young, maybe early high school. Bonnie didn't know what was up between the two of them but she got the impression that Ronald was still hung up on Kim.

V.

The sound of thunder finally caused Bonnie to look up from the some what smaller but still sizable mess she had been trying to organize on Ronald's desk. Listening to the receding thunder and the patter of rain against the roof made Bonnie glad that the task had taken all day, even if it meant having to spend the day with a loser like Ronald Stoppable. Still any day under a warm roof was better than one in the cold rain, even if it was spent trying to organize paperwork.

Stepping out of broom closet that served as Ronald's Office, Bonnie spied the man in question as he finished counting out change to the last customer in the restaurant.

"Here's your change, have a good day George."

"Same to you Ronald," the customer said before spying Bonnie. "Oh I see you finally got yourself some help around here, and she's a looker too." With a final wave towards Bonnie and Ronald, George opened his umbrella as he walked through the door and in to the growing darkness.

"Hey Bonnie." Ronald said as he closed the cashier drawer. "Did you finish organizing my paperwork?"

"No, but considering the size of mess it would probably take me a few days at the least." Bonnie said as her gaze lingered on the cashier drawer for a second.

"If you want to come back and work on it some more tomorrow I'd be more than happy to let you."

"And what makes you think I want to do that?"

"Well for one thing I'm closing up the shop early today, but if you to want stay here and keep working then I won't hold you back."

"I'll pass. I said I would repay you for last night and I did, so we're even now." Bonnie said as she began to make her towards the door.

"Ok, we're even for last night. But what about tonight?"

"What do you mean what about tonight?"

"Well look at it outside," Ronald said as he pointed out the front window, "It's raining cats and dogs out there, and if I remember correctly last night you didn't say you had a place to stay."

"It's not like I don't have a place to stay, what do you think I am homeless or something?" Bonnie asked sarcastically.

"That thought had crossed my mind."

"And just what makes you think that? Do you think I can't take care of myself? That I'm broke, that I don't have any friends? That Bonnie Rockwaller needs help, a knight in shining armor?" As some of the old "Queen Bee" Bonnie began to resurface.

Ronald simply rubbed bridge of his nose in frustration before answering. "In a word Bonnie, yes."

Bonnie opened her mouth to respond but was quickly cut off.

"I'm not saying that to belittle or put you down Bonnie, but when I saw you last night, well you looked like you hadn't had a place to stay for quite a while, and more importantly that you hadn't had a friend for a while too."

"That's not true." Bonnie replied quickly.

"Then where ever it is you live it must be a real dive."

Bonnie slowly shook her head no. "I mean it is true about me being homeless. I am homeless. There, I said, I'm homeless. Hold that over me all you want but.." Bonnie stopped to let a small sob escape from her, "But don't say I don't have any friends."

Ronald hadn't meant to be that harsh to Bonnie, he had only wanted her to reconsider about staying over at his warm, dry apartment again. But as he watched the brunette sit down and begin to softly cry, Ronald knew that he had struck a raw nerve.

"I'm sorry Bonnie. I didn't mean to upset you like that. I was just offering to let you stay the night at my place so that you would be out of the rain. I guess I sort of fell back in to the old high school mindset of trading snarky barbs with you instead of being an adult about things and offering help to someone a little less fortunate than I. And your right about one thing, you do have friends, like the one talking to you right now."

"I'm not your friend," Bonnie sobbed softly, "I'm just someone your taking pity on."

"Then maybe we can be friends, it's not like we don't know each other. After all we were on the cheerleading team together in high school."

"Where I treated you like a complete loser."

"Well at least I'm not the one living on the streets, so who's the loser now?"

Bonnie couldn't help but to feel a bit ashamed by the truth of Ronald's words. "Ok so I'm a loser now. There I said it, happy now?"

"Bonnie, get over your self." Ronald sighed. "No I'm not happy that you called yourself a loser. You know that I don't get pleasure from some one else's misfortune." Pulling up a chair he sat next to the brunette and continued, "So why don't you let me help you out?"

"Why?" Bonnie quietly asked.

"Why? Why not? You've seen some rough times Bonnie, and to be honest so have I. So as a friend, someone who's had a rough ride around the block a time or two let me be a shoulder you can cry on." Kneeling down next to Bonnie, Ronald handed her a napkin and waited for her answer.

"That's what she said too."

"What was that Bonnie?"

Dabbing her eyes once, Bonnie lifted her head and looked at Ronald before repeating herself, "I had a friend once that said that same thing. Like you she was a really nice and caring person, and she really helped me out when I needed help."

"See, I'm not the only person that feels that way. Maybe you should listen to us wise persons, we might learn you a thing or two." Ronald said while holding up three fingers.

Despite herself Bonnie couldn't help but to chuckle a little at the blond man's antics. "Maybe you're right."

"Of coarse I'm right. Now lets see what I can whip up for some dinner, I don't know about you but I'm starved."

Over dinner the two had had a long discussion about Bonnie's living arrangements, namely the fact that she didn't have any. Being the gentleman that he was, Ronald had offered to let Bonnie stay the night at his place once again. Although this was not something Bonnie had wanted to do, the chance to stay in a warm, dry, and safe place made for a quite convincing argument. As did the list of rules she laid down, the most important one being that Bonnie got to sleep in the bedroom with the door locked while Ronald slept on the couch. Once Ronald had agreed to these terms he had finally convinced the former "Queen Bee" to stay one more night at his apartment, or at least until it had stopped raining.

VI.

Bonnie was enjoying the lingering flavor of dinner in her mouth as she rode in the passenger seat of Ronald's car. Staring out the window as rain continued to fall Bonnie began to wonder just how true the old saying was about the fastest way to a "man's" heart was through his stomach or if it was equally applicable to women. If Ronald could cook like this everyday she just might fall to her knees and beg for his hand in marriage. The image of this brought a small grin and slight chuckle to the brunette.

"What's so funny?" Ronald asked.

"What?" Bonnie asked as her thoughts were pulled back to reality.

"Just wondering what brought that smile to your face. It looks good on you, you should wear it more often."

"Compliments will get you no where Mr. Stoppable, although if you want to test that theory that's fine be me. But to answer your question, nothing much, just had a thought is all."

"You don't say. Come to think of it I've had a thought too."

"Well wonders will never cease then."

"Hey low blow there, I haven't even told you what I was thinking about."

"You mean your thought was something coherent and logical, the stars must truly be aligned just right tonight then." Bonnie teased. Although she had fallen far from her place as a "Queen Bee", Bonnie still enjoyed a good verbal sparing.

"Well I was thinking about your panties." Ronald said.

This brought a raised eyebrow from Bonnie, "Want me to smack you before or after you try to dig yourself out of this hole?"

"What? Oh wait that's not what I meant!" Ronald stammered as he attempted to back peddle as fast as possible.

"Then just what were you thinking? After all you've already seen them up close and personal." Bonnie said while adding just a touch of huskiness to her voice.

"I was thinking that you might need some more of them, unless you want me to see them up close and personal again by washing them tonight."

"Are you offering to buy me a pair of panties? That's the nicest thing a guy has done for me in months." Bonnie teased.

"Tell you what then, how about I also buy you a new pair of socks, a shirt, and some pants too. That's got to boost my standing by a few points I'm sure."

"And just what will I owe you for all this? There's no such thing as a free lunch after all." Bonnie replied coldly as she crossed her arms over her chest. Things had been going to well for her lately, so it was probably time for a little bad luck. She also knew that in some way shape or form she was going to have to repay Ronald, with a little luck the repayment wouldn't be to bad, maybe a few extra days helping out at his diner. If that was all it cost her then Bonnie could deal with that, after all there had been times in the past when she had paid more for less.

"Bonnie," Ronald said annoyed, "I don't expect repayment for this."

"Sure, I've heard that one before." Bonnie replied sarcastically.

Shaking his head in disbelief Ronald began to wonder if it was worth trying to be this nice to Bonnie. "Tell you what, you want to repay me for this, fine. Work as my accountant for the rest of the week at the diner."

Bonnie thought about that for a moment before answering. "Ok, but on one condition, you let me help around the diner as need be in addition to just being your accountant." She said while adding air quotes at the end. I want to try to repay you as quickly as possible and be on my way.

"Deal." Ronald said, "Oh and one more thing."

"What?"

"We're going shopping at SmartyMart."

Bonnie's screams of no could be heard half way across Lowerton.


	3. Chapter 3

Kim Possible: Ronald's Diner

Chapter 3 Dinner Theater

I.

Ronald drove his car around the lot a couple of times trying to park as near as possible to the entrance of the Smarty Mart store as he could. This had less to do with being lazy or wanting a good spot and more to do with the rain that was falling out side. After turning the car off he handed his umbrella over to Bonnie.

"Here, this will keep you dry until we can make it inside."

"What about you?" Bonnie asked, "Can't we both use the umbrella?"

"Nah, it's not big enough. I'll be fine. Besides, it's just a short distance."

"No, it's your umbrella you use it. I'll just wait for you in the car."

"You don't want to come inside and shop for some clothes?"

"Look, I appreciate what you're doing for me, but I don't want to look like I'm taking advantage of the situation. I'd rather wait out here."

"Sounds like you still can't stand to be caught in a Smarty Mart." Ronald teased with a grin on his face. "Trust me, it's not as bad as you think. I'm sure you'll find something in there that you like."

Bonnie looked skeptical; "I'll gladly take what ever clothing you pick out for me."

"And risk picking the wrong thing and earning your wrath? No thanks, I'll pass." The driver said with a slight chuckle as he cinched up his jacket as much as possible before opening his door and hurrying toward the entrance of the store.

Bonnie watched as the man, who was turning out to be her unlikely benefactor, dashed for the dryness of the building's entrance. Taking a deep breath Bonnie resigned herself to her fate. She would have to go in Smarty Mart and shop with Ronald for new clothes. Opening the small umbrella, the down on her luck former cheerleader walked to the store entrance with a decided lack of any spring in her step. "Talk about karma," she said out loud.

"Took you long enough," Ronald joked with his usual lopsided smile. "I was starting to think you didn't want to be seen with me."

"It's the store, not the company." Bonnie muttered.

However, the racket of a teenage employee hurriedly pushing a long row of carts in to the building drowned her comment out. Turning her attention back to her new friend, she saw that he had already grabbed a shopping cart and was walking in to the store. Despite the promise of receiving much need new clothes Bonnie, with her head down and showing little enthusiasm, followed in to the big box store.

As they shopped, Ronald could see that his shopping companion still wasn't all that excited about being at Smarty Mart, so he attempted to make conversation with her and to try to take her mind off of the situation. But eventually his jabbering about how great a store Smarty Mart was and how you could find anything for a decent price finally got on to her nerves.

"You're probably enjoying this aren't you?" she accused while picking up a value pack of no name socks. "That's the only reason you brought me here."

"Enjoying what?" Was the answer, as he continued to push the shopping cart carrying the few things they had already selected.

"That I'm here buying clothes from Smarty Mart."

"To be honest I would enjoy this just about as much if we were shopping at Club Banana. Remember I'm a guy, its not like shopping is my idea of fun."

"Club Banana is a far more fashionable store. It was meant for a woman like me." Bonnie commented as she dropped a value pack of women's underwear into the cart.

"Hmmph, she used to say that too."

"She who? Kim? Like she ever had any fashion sense." Bonnie retorted as she held a pair of pants up to see how long they were. When she had lifted her head up again the look on his face said that she had just stuck her foot in to her mouth.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up Kim. Just forget that I said anything about that." She said but could see that her apology was having little effect.

"Ronald, I'm sorry for saying anything bad about Kim. It's just an old habit. Besides why should you care… Its not like you two are still together….are you?"

"And how would you feel if I said something bad about Tara?" He replied harshly.

Bonnie frowned at the barb even though she had to admit that it was a fair one. "No I wouldn't like that." She said sternly before softening her attitude, "But your point is taken. I take back what I said about Kim."

He nodded his head and began to push the shopping cart again, "Thank you. Yes Kim and I are no longer together but I still consider her a friend. And if there was a Club Banana in Lowerton and _if_ I had the money, then I would have taken you there."

"You would?" Bonnie asked in surprise.

Ronald was about to answer when they were soon approached by two men, one in plain clothes, the other wearing the local rent a cop uniform that Smarty Mart used in their stores.

"May I help you?" the blond asked the men standing in front of him.

The over weight man in the rent a cop uniform tried to look intimidating as he proceeded to accuse Ronald of being an accessory to shop lifting.

"Your lady friend there is a criminal," as he pointed thumb to Bonnie. Then pointed his index at him and continued, "And you might be too, if you're with her."

"Excuse me?" Ronald asked annoyed, "Just where do you get that idea?"

Then the plains clothes man spoke up, "Sir, this woman that you're with has been banned from Smarty Mart for the next six months after she was caught shop lifting here about a month ago. We agreed to not press charges at the time if she left and agreed to not come back. As of this evening she is now in violation of that agreement."

Ronald looked at the man in disbelief for a moment before asking if they had any proof. With out missing a beat the plainclothes man handed a picture from a surveillance camera that showed Bonnie stuffing a pack of underwear under her shirt. In the lower right hand corner of the picture was a time stamp indicating it had been taken about five weeks ago. Ronald then looked from the picture to his friend, the unspoken question obvious in his eyes. Bonnie managed to scrap up enough courage to look him in the eye as she nodded her head yes.

"Now if you will excuse me as I escort this criminal out of the store." The overweight rent a cop said as he began to move towards Bonnie.

"Hold on." Ronald interrupted, "I'm the one that brought her here tonight. She didn't want to come but I insisted that she come anyways so we could purchase some things."

He looked across to Bonnie, who was looking at the floor. Continuing his defense he added,

"That's why she broke her agreement. Also, do you have any evidence that she has actually stolen anything tonight?"

"No we have not observed her stealing anything tonight but we will need to search her to be sure." The plainclothes man, who appeared to be in charge, said, "However, regardless of the circumstances she has violated her agreement with the store. This can end one of two ways, if after we search the young lady and we find that she has not stolen anything tonight then we will let her go, but her ban from this establishment will now be permanent. If, however, we do find something on her, then we will immediately call the cops and have her arrested."

"OK." Bonnie said, "Let's get this over with, go ahead and search me. And he didn't know about my shoplifting in the past so he's not an accessory." Bonnie said pointedly towards the rent a cop.

"Watch you mouth miss." The plain clothes chastised as he pointed his finger at her. "You've been cooperative so far and that's working in your favor, but if you want to have an attitude I assure you we can make things a lot more miserable for you than you can for us."

"Are you threatening her?" Ronald asked incensed.

"No, I'm being brutally honest with her."

"Ronald, it's OK. I'll go with them and let them search me or what ever it is they want to do and then we can leave." Bonnie said flatly.

The former high school classmate could see that really neither one of them had a choice but to do as they were instructed. He then reached in to his pocket and gave Bonnie the keys to his car, "Bonnie, once they're done with you go and wait in the car. I need to purchase a few more things and then we can leave." Ronald explained while adding emphasis on the word purchase.

Watching as the fat rent a cop escorted Bonnie to the store's security office; the plains clothes cop then turned to address Ronald. "You friend there has been cooperative and that's good, unfortunately it's not entirely my decision as to what will happen to her, that's up the store's management."

"Then let's go talk to the management."

"Hold on. We can, but if she is innocent as you say she will need a character witness. If you are willing to come with me and be searched to prove that you also haven't stolen anything, that will be another point in her favor to convince the management not to press charges against her."

"Seems like you guys are being pretty heavy handed over one case of shop lifting. It's not like she was even stealing anything valuable, just some clothes that she needed."

"I know it may seem that way, but we have to take every case of shoplifting seriously since this store has the highest rate of shrinkage of any Smarty Mart in the state."

Ronald sighed in frustration. Arguing wasn't going to help the situation any and it certainly wasn't going to help Bonnie any. All he could do was to cooperate and hope for the best.

II.

A full hour later Ronald returned to his car. As he approached his well used old Pontiac part of him was relieved to see Bonnie was in it and not in a police car. However, another part of him was also equally relieved to see that both she and his car were still there at all. Climbing to in the driver's seat he handed a small plastic bag to her without preamble before starting the ignition. At first she didn't look in the bag that sat in her lap. Instead, simply looked out of the car's window in order to avoid looking at her "accomplice," in order to hide her shame and embarrassment.

Bonnie was ashamed about being caught stealing from Smarty Mart, and by being strip searched by the fat rent a cop. But there was something else that was bothering her. Not about shopping at Smarty Mart. In fact she was actually looking forward to getting some badly need new clothes. What really bothered and truly embarrassed her was when her past had been aired in front of Ronald the way it had been. Still looking out the window as they drove back to his apartment, she was lost in these thoughts until he spoke up.

"Since your here I guess they decided not to arrest you."

"No they didn't. But I'm now permanently banned from every stepping foot in Smarty Mart again."

Ronald nodded his head before speaking. "You can look in the bag, there's some stuff in there for you."

Confused, Bonnie looked in the plastic bag and to her surprise, and partial shame, discovered assorted clothing inside of it.

"You got these for me?" She asked in surprise.

"Yes I did. You needed some new clothes and that's what we went to the store to get, despite the Barney Fifes of the world."

"Why?"

"Why? What do you mean, why?" Was the confused response, "Didn't you need some new clothes?"

"I did, I mean I do. But I thought that maybe you wouldn't bother to get me anything after you found out about my, you know shoplifting."

"Look, I could tell you needed some clothes, badly."

The brunette felt insulted and was about to retort when Ronald continued, "Bonnie, in that photo of you shop lifting you were wearing the same clothes five weeks ago that you have on right now. The clothes you said were the only clothes you have… You need these clothes."

"I know, but you must feel humiliated tonight. They accused you of shoplifting just because you were seen with me."

He snorted, "Yes, I was a little embarrassed…"

"I'm sorry," came the glum apology.

"Bonnie, you have nothing to apologize about."

"Yes I do. I could have prevented that. I could have told you why I didn't want to go to Smarty Mart with you. That it had nothing to do with my pride but the fact, that I was banned from being there. Instead my pride kept me from telling you I had been caught shoplifting and you ended up being humiliated while doing something nice for me."

There was a pause then a response; "Yes it would have helped if you mentioned the shoplifting."

"Sorry", came a meek reply. "But I didn't want you to know because I was embarrassed and to proud to let you know. And I didn't want you to make fun of me about it."

The driver spared a second from watching the road to look at his passenger. "Did you really think I would make fun of you for that?"

Nodding her head, "Maybe it wasn't a rational thing to think after how you've been treating me… But old habits die hard ok."

"Bonnie, I wouldn't have nor will I make fun of you for that. Yes your pride did get in the way tonight. But I won't hold the shoplifting against you. You were just doing something you felt you need to in order to survive. If I had known about it then I wouldn't have forced you to come with me. Besides the way they treated you was very humiliating. You didn't deserve that. At least we don't have to worry about that any more because I'm never going there again as long as they keep acting like everyone's a criminal there."

She merely nodded her head in agreement, seeing that Ronald was still annoyed with the store's security team by the way he kept grumbling about rent a cops being on power trips. Poor Ronald didn't know the half of it, and Bonnie wasn't about to tell him. The strip search she had endured in front of the fat rent a cop was bad enough, and was probably illegal since it had been only he and her in the room at the time, but Bonnie wasn't about to bring it up to Ronald. He was still worked up about the whole situation, and frankly they had both had enough attention and scrutiny for one day.

III.

Exiting the dryness of the car the former cheerleader clutched a plastic bag to her chest in an attempt to protect the contents from the rain. Bonnie never would have thought that she would find herself in her current position, yet here she was clutching a bag full of clothes from Smarty Mart as though they were the most precious thing in her whole life.

"_Who are you kidding, this is only the second most precious thing," _a small voice said from inside Bonnie's head. Most precious, second most precious, either way she never thought she would have gone shopping in Smarty Mart with the person she thought was the biggest loser from high school. And yet she had not only done that but she was smiling and almost content about it, despite what had happened at the store.

"Penny for your thoughts?" He asked while opening the door to his apartment.

"Just a penny?"

"All I can afford right now after setting you up in style."

"Hmmp. I wouldn't call four pairs of underwear, three pairs of socks, a couple of t-shirts and a pair of pants as styling."

"Compared to a few days ago, I would say you're ready to strut down the cat-walk." He said with a lopsided grin walking through the living room and in to the kitchen.

"Touché, but don't hold your breath on watching me walk down the cat-walk in these new clothes." Bonnie retorted before smiling. "Still it was nice of you to buy me these clothes since I don't have any others."

"What happened to them?" Ronald asked as he sat out two small plastic cups and filled them with water.

"They were stolen," she sighed before plopping down on to the couch, "Just one of the dangers of living on the streets."

"I can only imagine." He conceded handing one of the cups.

"That's all you're going to say about it? No 'It services you right' or anything like that?"

"Again, I have to ask..." He retorted then opening his arms out as a plea, nearly spilling the contents of his drink. "Why would I do something like that?"

"Payback for how I treated you in high school." Bonnie answered meekly as she lowered her head.

Ronald stared for several seconds as his mind worked to come up with a response. However, his thought process was cut short when Bonnie, having sense that she was being stared at, spoke again.

"Why are you staring at me? I deserve it. It's not like I was ever nice to you."

"Bonnie, we've been over this already. You know I'm not so petty as to try and hold that against you. Yes I didn't like the way you treated me, but that doesn't mean I should do the same to you. What possible good could come of me doing that?"

"It would make me feel better." Bonnie answered softly.

"Say what?" Ronald asked completely perplexed, which showed on his face.

Lifting her head to look Ronald in the eyes, "I'm not quite the same Bonnie I used to be, the old 'Queen Bee" of high school. I've had to grow up a bit and realize that the world doesn't just revolve around me."

"Come on. You weren't all that bad in high school."

"Nice try Stoppable, but we both know that I was. Do you know why so many people called me the 'Queen Bee" in school? It didn't have anything to do with comparing me to a queen bee and her drones, but instead it was a worse insult."

"To be fair Bonnie there were several times I called you 'Queen Bee' myself."

"I'm sure both you and Kim did. The difference is that I doubt you meant it the way everyone else did. When they called me 'Queen Bee' the emphasis was on the B."

"OK let's pretend I have no idea what you're talking about." Ronald said.

"What sort of disparaging word do you know of that begins with B and applies to females?" Seeing the continued confused look on his face she decided to tell him. "Bitch! They were calling me a bitch, not only behind my back but they were saying to my face as well and I didn't even know it." Bonnie said quite flustered before sighing.

"And the worst part was that I actually deserved it most of the time. I want to be a better person, the type of person worthy of the kindness you've shown me today. It's harder than I thought, but I'm trying to be a better person, even if I don't really know how to do it. And if that means letting some one give me pay back for how I treated them in high school then that's what I'll do."

"Wow, I think that's the most unselfish thing I've ever heard from you." Ronald said in amazement, "And based on what I've seen from you today I would say you've come a long way in being a better person."

As Bonnie listened she began to slowly smile at his compliment and had to wipe away what was the beginning of a tear from her eye.

"Now before you go and get all teary eyed on me…"

"I wasn't crying." She responded sternly.

"Aaas I was saying…" Letting out a yawn, "I have to be at the diner early tomorrow, which means you have to as well, Rockwaller. It's time for bed, since we'll have to get up around five in the morning. So if you'll excuse me I need to brush my teeth before you lock me out of the bathroom." With that he got to his feet and walked towards the bathroom.

"Fair enough. I'll let you use the bathroom first since it is yours after all."

"See, being a better person isn't so hard is it?" He teased just before he shut the door.

A few minutes later Ronald emerged from the bathroom and saw that Bonnie had already found an extra blanket and pillow and was attempting to make a bed for him on the couch.

"Thank you, that was kind of you to make me a bad." He said with sincerity.

"Your welcome." She responded the same before adding with a smile, "Just don't expect me to make your bed for you in the morning." As she began to walk past before stopping.

"Something wrong?"

"Ronald. I… I just wanted to say thank you for my new clothes." As Bonnie finished her thanks she gave a small peck on his right check. "Goodnight. See you in the morning." Before locking the bedroom door behind her.

Ronald touched his right check where he had been kissed. It was the first time in years he had been kissed by a woman, outside of his family, and he had forgotten how good it felt. Finally after a moment he managed to utter a reply to the now shut door, "That was most kind in deed…Goodnight Bonnie and pleasant dreams."

IV.

Bonnie awoke with a start. Looking around the unfamiliar surroundings Bonnie fought through the fog of sleep to try to recall where she was. Finding that she was alone in a bed things began to slowly come back to the brunette.

"That's right, I'm at Ronald's place."

Glancing at the clock next to the bed, the glowing numbers on it indicated that it was already five in the morning. Being an early riser, as she had been for most of her life, Bonnie decided it was no use lying in bed anymore and decided to get up. Besides which she and her roomate would be fighting for the bathroom soon enough, so she might as well beat the rush. Speaking of which, the former high school cheerleader wondered how he was doing.

Unlocking the door between the bedroom and the living room, Bonnie poked her head out and spied the young man sprawled out on the couch, his blanket having nearly completely fallen off of his body during the night. She couldn't help but to grin at the scene, while he was not as buff as Brick had been in high school, over the years Ronald had still filled out nicely. Aside from the dark circles under his eyes she could consider him reasonably attractive, or at the very least cute while he was sleeping.

"Poor guy, he looks so uncomfortable." She softly said to herself as she picked up the blanket and gently placed it on him before retreating to the bedroom to take a shower.

V.

Ronald bolted off of the couch and assumed a crouched position as the sound of an alarm going off woke him from his slumber. As the shock of the unexpected sound began to wear off and he exited what Kim used to like to call "mission mode", he noticed a small alarm clock sitting on the coffee table next to where his head had been lying on the couch. Standing up from his crouch, first turned the alarm off and then wondered where it had come from. As far as he knew the only alarm clock in the place was inside of his bedroom, the one that his guest was now occupying.

The former Queen B had just pulled one of her new shirts over her head when she heard a knocking on the bedroom door.

"Bonnie, are you in there?"

"Well who else would it be? Unless there are other girls that you let sleep in your room," she answered with a snarky response.

"Well I do let Hana sleep there when she visits." Was his reply, as the door opened.

"Is this going somewhere or did you have a reason you knocked on the door to ask me a question?"

"Oh, I, uh. I just wanted to ask if you knew how an alarm clock ended up next to my head this morning? It surprised the heck out of me."

"Poor baby, scared by a little alarm clock," she laughed, "I put it there this morning after I got out of bed, didn't want you to oversleep since we have to be up so early today."

"Which I didn't." Ronald said with a slight frown, "But you could have at least placed it near my feet or something and not next to my head with the alarm set on the loudest setting."

"Look, I told you last night I'm trying to be a better person. I didn't say I was good at it yet." The roommate replied with an "I'm guilty as hell but trying to look innocent" smile. "At any rate I'm done in the bathroom so you can use it now."

Fifteen minutes later a showered but still in the process of shaving, Ronald walked out of the bedroom. "Bonnie, can you get the plates out for breakfast? I'm going to have to hurry to make…."

"Make what?" Bonnie asked as she sat two bowls on the kitchenette table.

"Did, did you make breakfast?"

"Hey try not to sound so shocked there Stoppable. Unlike Kim I can actually make something edible in the kitchen. Although today all I had time to make was some oatmeal."

"That's OK," he said with a smile, "Oatmeal is part of a good for you breakfast, and you just saved me a lot of time this morning."

"No problem. But since I cooked you get to clean up." Bonnie informed her breakfast companion.

Over breakfast it was pointed out to Bonnie that she needed to work harder at being a nicer person since she had insulted Kim about her cooking. This annoyed her for two reasons. The first being that Ronald still stuck up for Kim for no apparent reason, and two, it wasn't an insult if it was true, and it was well known that for the girl would could do anything, the kitchen seemed to be the one challenge beyond her ability.

After breakfast, and yes Ronald did clean up the breakfast dishes, the two left the apartment and headed for the car.

"Brrr, it's cold out this morning." Bonnie complained.

"The weather man said this rain storm is supposed to last through tonight it probably won't get above sixty degrees all day today."

"Then hurry up and start your car so we can get some heat going."

"Yes malady." The driver answered sarcastically.

Sensing that she may have pressed her luck too far, Bonnie wisely decided to ride out the remainder of the trip in silence. As much as she hated to admit it Ronald was right about one thing, the newer nicer Bonnie needed to learn to stop being so sarcastic, especially to someone who didn't deserve it.

TBC


End file.
